CHAMPLAIN – HUDSON POWER EXPRESS PROJECTS AQUATIC SEDIMENT SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS PLAN Prepared for: Transmission Developers Inc Prepared by: HDR | DTA Portland, Maine March 2010 Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .................................................................................................. 1 2.1 Submarine Transmission Cable Installation ..................................................................... 3 2.2 Disposal of Dredged Material .......................................................................................... 5 3.0 EXISTING SEDIMENT DATA .......................................................................................... 7 3.1 Lake Champlain ............................................................................................................... 8 3.1.1 Sediment Type .......................................................................................................... 8 3.1.2 Contaminant Sources and Sediment Quality ............................................................ 9 3.2 Champlain Canal .............................................................................................................. 9 3.2.1 Sediment Type .......................................................................................................... 9 3.2.2 Contaminant Sources and Sediment Quality .......................................................... 10 3.3 Hudson River .................................................................................................................. 11 3.3.1 Sediment Type ........................................................................................................ 11 3.3.2 Contaminant Sources and Sediment Quality .......................................................... 12 3.4 Harlem and East Rivers .................................................................................................. 14 3.4.1 Sediment Type ........................................................................................................ 14 3.4.2 Contaminant Sources and Sediment Quality .......................................................... 14 3.5 Long Island Sound ......................................................................................................... 16 3.5.1 Sediment Type ........................................................................................................ 16 3.5.2 Contaminant Sources and Sediment Quality .......................................................... 17 4.0 SEDIMENT SAMPLING LOCATIONS .......................................................................... 19 4.1 Historic Sediment Data Gaps ......................................................................................... 19 4.2 Frequency of Sediment Samples .................................................................................... 19 5.0 SAMPLING METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 22 5.1 Sediment Sampling Methodology .................................................................................. 22 6.0 SEDIMENT SAMPLE HANDLING ................................................................................ 23 7.0 ANALYSIS OF SEDIMENT SAMPLES ......................................................................... 24 7.1 Physical Analysis of Sediment Samples ........................................................................ 24 7.2 Chemical Analysis of Sediment Samples ....................................................................... 24 8.0 REPORTING ..................................................................................................................... 25 9.0 LITERATURE CITED ...................................................................................................... 26 i List of Tables 3-1 Historical Sediment Data along Proposed Route 3-2 Samples Collected by NYSDEC, Excluding CARP or EMAP/R-EMAP 3-3 ER-L and ER-M Concentrations for Common Analytes 4-1 Marine Route Survey Sediment Sample Collection 7-1 Proposed Chemical Analysis for Sediment Samples Collected for the Champlain Hudson Power Express Project Appendices Appendix 1: Historic Sediment Sampling Locations Appendix 2: Proposed Sediment Sampling Locations ii DRAFT SEDIMENT SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS PLAN: CHAMPLAIN – HUDSON POWER EXPRESS PROJECT 1.0 INTRODUCTION Champlain Hudson Power Express Inc (CHPEI), a subsidiary of Transmission Developers Incorporated (TDI) is proposing to develop an underwater high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line project located in New York and Connecticut—the Champlain Hudson Power Express (Project). The goal of CHPEI is to develop a transmission project that relieves highly congested areas in an environmentally responsible manner. Using HVDC cables, CHPEI’s project will link trapped generation such as wind and other renewables with markets that are experiencing acute power shortages. The use of HVDC cable technology avoids the visual and electromagnetic field (EMF) impacts of overhead transmission projects by installing cables out of sight either underwater or underground. On behalf of CHPEI, HDR |DTA conducted a Prefeasibility Study that established a proposed transmission cable route corridor, within which a specific transmission cable route was developed to avoid and minimize potential environmental impacts and along the most favorable conditions for the installation of the cable. The selection of the proposed cable corridor and route took into consideration water depths, sea floor geology, contaminated sediments, fishing activities, restricted areas, environmentally sensitive areas, cultural resources and physical obstacles. In order to further refine the submarine transmission cable route, a Marine Route Survey will be conducted during 2010. The Marine Route Survey will include hydrographic, geophysical, sediment, and benthic invertebrate surveys. This document describes the existing available aquatic sediment data (Section 3.0) as well as a proposed aquatic sediment sampling and analyses plan (Section 4.0). The following Sediment Sampling and Analysis Plan has been revised to incorporate comments from the New York Public Service Commission, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed Project is a 2,000-megawatt (MW) HVDC Voltage Source Converter (VSC) controllable transmission system, comprising two 1,000-MW HVDC “modified monopoles.” 1 DRAFT SEDIMENT SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS PLAN: CHAMPLAIN – HUDSON POWER EXPRESS PROJECT Each of these two monopoles includes two submarine or underground cables connected as a modified monopole. In total, four cables will be laid between the United States and Canadian Border and the converter stations. Two cables (one monopole) will terminate 376 miles south of TransÉnergie’s substation at an HVDC converter station near Wells Avenue in Yonkers, New York. The remaining two HVDC cables will continue along the Hudson River to the entrance of Spuyten Duyvil Creek. The cables will then follow a 63-mile-long route through Spuyten Duyvil Creek, the Harlem River, and the East River into Long Island Sound before terminating at a converter station near Bridgeport, Connecticut (Appendix 1). Submarine or underground alternating current (AC) cables will transmit electricity from the converter stations to substations connected to the electrical grid. From the Yonkers converter station, AC cables will re-enter the Hudson River and travel south in the same corridor as the two HVDC cables through the Harlem River. The AC cables will terminate at the existing Consolidated Edison (ConEd) Sherman Creek/Academy substation, near the intersection of West 201st Street and 9th Street, in the Borough of Manhattan. From the Bridgeport converter station, AC cables will carry electricity a distance of approximately 150 feet to the existing Singer substation, owned and operated by the United Illuminating Company (UI). The Project begins in Canada where the submarine transmission cables will follow the Richelieu River nearly 22 miles south to the international border between the United States and Canada. South of the international boundary, the submarine transmission cables will continue through Lake Champlain and travel south to the northern entrance of the Champlain Canal, near Whitehall, New York. To the extent practicable, the submerged cables will continue through the Champlain Canal to Fort Edward, where the canal joins the Hudson River. CHPEI expects that overland bypasses will be necessary to circumvent Locks C12 near Whitehall and C11 near Fort Ann. For both upland bypasses the cables will be buried along an existing railroad right-of-way (ROW). Between Locks C12 and C11, the cables will be buried within the canal. The cables will also bypass Lock C9 through an overland route. In addition, an overland bypass will also be necessary south of the Champlain Canal/Hudson River confluence to avoid activities associated with the Hudson River Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Dredging Project, which occupies the Upper Hudson River. Accordingly, the transmission cables will exit the Champlain Canal near 2 DRAFT SEDIMENT SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS PLAN: CHAMPLAIN – HUDSON POWER EXPRESS PROJECT Lock C8 and the cables will be buried within an existing railroad ROW for a distance of approximately